Translate

Sunday, August 2, 2015

When I walked into my first ITC meeting 26
years ago, I knew only 2 people in a room of about 25; and I hadn’t a clue what
ITC stood for. I certainly didn’t know
there was anything beyond that Club, nor that there were other clubs doing the
same kind of training. The one thing I
did know was that I did not like to stand before a group of people I
didn’t know and have to say something..…even if it was only to say my name.

Who
would have guessed that as a result of the evaluation, support, and
encouragement I received at those early meetings, the benefits would find me
standing here tonight, no longer afraid to
say my name, and to thank you for giving me the opportunity
to serve as your 2015-2017 International Training in Communication President. This is an honor and a privilege humbly
accepted.

I
know that being International President is not an easy job.
However,
please know that I, and your incoming Board members, will always try our
hardest to do the very best job we can.

Before
we set sail on this voyage, there are some things I should explain. First, I know the Kiwi’s love to sail . . .
and, so do I. Therefore, sailing is the
general theme I’ve chosen for the ensuing term.

If
you imagine that all one needs to do to sail a boat is raise the sails and a
gentle breeze will push you through the water, let me assure you that vision is
far from true. Skippering a sailboat and
being skipper of an organization like ITC are very much alike. Both require a lot of hard work.

Before
we cast off on our next ITC voyage, your officers will spend the next couple
of days taking an intense look at our vessel and determining the challenges of
a two-year-long voyage. As we chart our
course, we must think about sailing into ports where we can pick up crew
members and finish our voyage with more crew than we started with. We will sail forward with increased enthusiasm
and, more importantly, have our returning crew members step forward to say,
“Hey, I could do that … again.”

Our
organization isn’t the size of an aircraft carrier; but, it isn’t a dinghy
either. No matter the size, it takes a
whole crew to sail a boat or an organization; and, it takes the whole crew,
working together as a team, to achieve goals and to win a race.

It
is not just the officers who will establish ITC’s goals for this term - the
goals also need to come from you, the crew members. Therefore, you all have tablets of paper on
your table please write down your goals, your ideas, and your suggestions and
put them in the Goals & Suggestions box, which you will find on the
President’s table as you pass through the reception line following the close of
the Installation. (Or, email your ideas and suggestions to me.)

I
mentioned earlier that I love to sail.
In part, it is an inherited characteristic. My father was a boat designer and builder—of
mostly sailboats … so sailing is in my blood.

Perhaps
I love to sail because I am also competitive.I started my sailboat racing career at the age of 7 in an 8-foot, or 2.3
metre, El Toro - a dinghy.

By
the time I was a teenager, I raced an international one-design 23-foot, or 7
metre racing sloop.

I
remember that period of time as if it were yesterday. There was a fellow who won every race in the
class; no one seemed to be able to beat
Jake. Jake became my challenge. What
did I have to do to beat him?

The
challenge was that there had to be a better way to sail my boat so that I could
cross the finish line ahead of him. To
do that, I had to change the way I was sailing.

I
kept trying new things, until the day the race outcome finally changed and 45-year-old Jake finally had to shake the hand of this 19-year-old
sea-gal who had finally beat him.

Why
did I tell you this story? Because, as I
said earlier, ITC is like a sail-boat.
Our ITC has been drifting along; and as we’ve been
drifting, the winds have shifted and the tides have changed. But have we?

Our ITC now needs to handle strong winds and
rough seas ahead. Our boat is certainly
seaworthy and the seasoned members of our crew are
well-trained. Our boat is not a cruise
ship; it’s a training vessel; and everyone must help sail. The harder jobs will be asked of the more
experienced members of the crew. However, we also need new, less experienced crew members who we
can train as you and I have been trained.

Our
goals for increasing membership have been like trying to win a race without
making any changes to the way we sail. It’s
time to come about and set sail on a new tack.
One way to do this might be to stop trying to re-rig existing boats;
it’s time to start launching new ones - that means new clubs; new clubs in places
we’ve never had clubs before.

I
agree, that may not be easy...and, as I said earlier, sailing is hard
work. But unless we change course, we
won’t have clubs to sail or crews to sail them.

As
we chart our course over the next few days and set our sails on new
horizons, be sure to read the next issue of From the Boardroom when it comes out (the end of August) to see what some of our course plans will look like.

By
your presence here tonight, I know you can be counted on as dedicated crew
members. And, I thank you for that.

Which brings to mind; I
mentioned earlier that the general theme for this term is sailing. More specifically: “Leading the way . . . through
Shifting Winds, Changing Tides, and
. . . the Oceans of Opportunities our POWERtalk
training programs provide.”

Before
concluding, I want to recognize some very special crew members. The crew skippered by Val who have all said they will continue to help us sail
. . . Anita, Maria, Judy, Sue, Akemi, and Marilyn. . . .
And your new ITC crew officers . . . Mary Flentge, Marilyn Robinson,
Maria Trujillo-Tough, Mary Remson , Marijke Slager, Akemi Kosuge, and Wyn
Bowler, who have already demonstrated they are very capable of leading the way.

Thank
you.

A
special thanks goes to my installing officer, Irene Johnson for her creative
and fun installation.

There are many more of
you to thank; however, I fear any attempt to name you all would only leave
somebody out. You know who you are; so,
give yourselves a pat on the back and please accept my “international” thank
you’s. Merci! Grazie! Xie Xie! Domo
Arigato! Many, many, thanks to all of
you.

There’s
one more member of the crew who is not here but needs special recognition for
his support…and, for taking over the galley chores at home…that’s my husband
Elliot.

I
thought about launching this venture just as one launches a boat——by
christening it with a bottle of champagne——but I knew the hotel wouldn’t be too
pleased if I broke a bottle of champagne over the floor, so that leaves us with
two alternatives for a launching celebration…to have you meet and greet each of
the officers in the receiving line following the close of this convention; and
to invite you all up to the Royal Suite once members are through the receiving
line.

With
this picture, you’ll just
have to imagine that bottle of champagne breaking by this sea-gal who is not
quite ready to outgrow childhood.

Let’s
continue to sail forward.

Thanks
for crewing with me and “leading the way” through shifting
winds, changing tides, and oceans of opportunity that our outstanding training programs provide
to help us improve our communication and
leadership skills throughout the world.

1 comment:

Search This Blog

About Me

POWERtalk International is a club based Not-for-profit organisation specialising in coaching in effective public speaking, as well as mentoring and leadership skills. International Convention is held every second year. In 2015, Convention is being held in Rotorua, New Zealand at Novotel Lakeside from 17th to 21st July.

Whether you are attending convention or not, you can keep up with the excitement and spirit of convention by following our blog.

Feel free to comment, but be aware comments wont appear immediately as they will be moderated.